Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 19, No. 5, pp.

1203-1215, September 2019 1203

https://doi.org/10.6113/JPE.2019.19.5.1203
JPE 19-5-14 ISSN(Print): 1598-2092 / ISSN(Online): 2093-4718

Fast Regulation Method for Commutation Shifts for

Sensorless Brushless DC Motors
Xuliang Yao*, Jicheng Zhao†, and Jingfang Wang*
†,*
College of Automation, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China

Abstract
Sensorless brushless DC (BLDC) motor drive systems are often subjected to inaccurate commutation signals and can produce
high current peaks and conduction consumption. To achieve accurate commutation, a fast commutation shift regulation method
for sensorless BLDC motor drive systems considering the influence of the inductance freewheeling process is presented to
compensate inaccurate commutation signals. The regulation method is effective in both steady speed and variable speed
operations. In the proposed method, the commutation error is gained from the line-voltage difference integral in a 60 electrical-
degree conduction period and the outgoing phase current before commutation. In addition, the detection precision of the
commutation error is improved due to the consideration of the freewheeling period. The commutation error is directly obtained,
which avoids successive optimization and accelerates the convergence rate of the proposed method. Moreover, the commutation
error features a positive or negative sign, which can be utilized as an indicator of advanced or delayed commutation. Finally,
experiments are conducted to validate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method. The results obtained show that
the proposed method can accurately regulate commutation signals.

Key words: Brushless DC motor, Commutation error, Free-wheeling period, Sensorless drive

are easily detected and widely adopted in position sensorless

I. INTRODUCTION
Brushless DC (BLDC) motors are widely used in the
aerospace industry, electric vehicles and household applications
due to their inherent advantages including high power density,
high efficiency and simplicity in structure [1]-[3]. Rotor position
information is important in motor control. Position sensors,
such as hall-effect sensors, are generally used to acquire rotor
position signals for proper commutation. However, hall-effect
sensors are susceptible to electromagnetic interference and
high-temperature surroundings, which can eventually lead to
inaccurate rotor position signals. Disturbed position information
deviates motors from accurate commutation instants, which
results in high current peaks and conduction loss [4]-[6].
Many sensorless drive techniques have been investigated
to obtain accurate rotor position signals for overcoming the
above-mentioned drawbacks. Among these strategies, the zero-
crossing points (ZCPs) of back electromotive force (back-EMF)
Manuscript received Dec. 11, 2018; accepted Apr. 17, 2019
Recommended for publication by Associate Editor Wook-Jin Lee.
†
Corresponding Author: worryfree@126.com
Tel: +86-13059035611, Harbin Engineering University
*
College of Automation, Harbin Engineering University, China
control. The ZCPs of back-EMF are often abstracted from the
terminal voltage. However, the terminal voltage is vulnerable
to high-frequency components due to pulse-width modulation
(PWM) switching. A low-pass filter is usually applied to
remove the high-frequency switching noise of the terminal
voltage. However, it also introduces a phase delay for the
ZCP detection of back-EMF. In [7], a hysteresis comparator
is used to compensate phase delay. However, it requires
offline compensation, and the compensation rate is limited.
The floating phase terminal voltage during the PWM off time
is used to directly detect the ZCPs of back-EMF without a
low-pass filter [8]. However, it is unsuitable in the low speed
range. The authors of [9] proposed a dynamic rate limiter to
identify the ZCPs of zero-sequence voltage. However, the
parameter of the rate limiter needs to be elaborately adjusted.
In [10], the authors analyzed the commutation error in
traditional line-to-line voltage ZCP detection and proposed a
two-stage commutation error correction method for both high-
speed and low-speed applications. Nevertheless, this method
adds additional hardware circuits and has poor stability.
Various estimation and observer methods have been
presented to achieve accurate commutation [11]-[19]. In [11],

© 2019 KIPE
1204 Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 19, No. 5, September 2019
the authors used the torque constant as a reference signal of
the position detection to obtain accurate commutation signals.
In [12], the rotor position is required from back-EMF
difference, which is estimated from a disturbance observer
structure. Estimation methods based on sliding-mode observers
[13], [14], Kalman filters [15]-[17], and extended Kalman
filters [18], [19] have been adopted to accurately extract
information of rotor position. However, the algorithms are
complicated and require a large number of calculations.
To improve the precision of commutation signals, some
commutation instant regulation methods have been proposed
in recent years. In [20], an intelligent self-tuning strategy was
presented to finely adjust commutation instants. In addition,
the regulation of the commutation instants is realized by
minimizing the stator current. In [21], the commutation errors
are adjusted by forcing the dc-link current difference to zero
before and after commutation instants. However, this method
is based on a linearized approximation between the DC-link
current difference and the commutation time error. In [22],
the commutation errors are compensated by keeping the
freewheeling current of the unenergized phase symmetrical.
When dealing with some PWM strategies featuring the
suppression of freewheeling current, this method is unsuitable.
In addition, this method is accomplished by successive
optimization, resulting in slow response of the regulation. In
[23], the symmetrical characteristics of unenergized phase
terminal voltage are presented to regulate commutation instants.
However, the effects of the freewheeling period are not
considered. In [24], the commutation error is compensated by
a PI regulator, which inevitably prolongs the regulation time
of the commutation error.
In this paper, a fast commutation shift regulation method is
presented to adjust the commutation signals of sensorless
BLDC motors. In this method, the commutation error is
calculated with the line voltage difference integral value in 60
electrical degrees and the outgoing phase current before
commutation. Then it is directly applied to adjust inaccurate
commutation signals. The sign of the commutation error is
employed to judge advanced or delayed commutation. In the
practical implementation, the error sources are inevitable and
they can produce commutation errors. In [25], the commutation
error cannot be gained and is regulated with a PI controller
which extends the regulation time of the commutation error.
But the commutation error in the proposed method is directly
obtained and the commutation error is immediately compensated
in the next adjacent period which avoids progressive
optimization and accelerates convergence rate. In addition,
the proposed method is less sensitive to switching noise so
that the accuracy is improved.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. A
mathematical model of a BLDC motor is described in Section
II. The commutation shift regulation method is proposed in
Section III. Experimental results to support the validity and

VT1 VT3 VT5 ia
R L ea
 
a ib eb
R L  
udc b n
c ic ec
R L  
VT4 VT6 VT2

Voltage source inverter BLDC motor
Fig. 1. Equivalent circuit of a BLDC motor drive system.
effectiveness of the proposed method are provided in Section
IV. Some conclusions are presented in Section V.
II. MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF A BLDC MOTOR
An equivalent circuit of a BLDC motor drive system is
shown in Fig. 1. In this paper, a surface-mounted permanent-
magnet rotor structure is considered. It is assumed that the
voltage drop of each of the controllable switches is equal, the
three-phase stator windings are symmetrical, the phase
resistance and inductance are constant, and the armature
reaction is negligible. The voltage equations are described as:
ua   R 0 0  ia   L 0 0  ia  ea  un 
      d       (1)
ub    0 R 0  ib   0 L 0  dt ib   eb   un 
uc   0 0 R  ic  0 0 L  ic  ec  un 
where ua, ub and uc are the three-phase voltages, ia, ib and ic
are the three-phase currents, ea, eb and ec are the phase back-
EMFs, R is the stator resistance, L is the phase inductance,
and un is the neutral voltage.
The line voltage equations of a BLDC motor drive system
are described as:
uab  ua  ub  R  ia  ib   Ld  ia  ib  dt  ea  eb

ubc  ub  uc  R  ib  ic   Ld  ib  ic  dt  eb  ec (2)

uca  uc  ua  R  ic  ia   Ld  ic  ia  dt  ec  ea
III. PROPOSED COMMUTATION SHIFT
REGULATION METHOD
Under the influence of the rotor magnetic structure,
armature reaction, magnetization unbalance of the permanent
magnets, manufacturing errors and design compatibility, it is
not easy to gain an ideal trapezoidal air-gap flux distribution.
Generally, the flat-top width of the back-EMF is less than
120°. Fig. 2 shows a phase diagram of the back-EMF and
commutation signals, where β is the phase deviation from one
side of the flat-top back-EMF. L a , L b and L c are the
commutation signals. α denotes the absolute value of the
commutation error φ between the actual commutation
position and the accurate commutation position, and it is
 Fast Regulation Method for Commutation Shifts for … 1205

ea eb ec 6Ke
E ea       t  t180  , t150  t  t210
  6
 6Ke
Ke      t1  t  , t150  t  t1 (5)
0
30 90 150 210 270 eb     6
t1 t2 t3 t4 t K ,
 e t1  t  t210
 
 Ke, t150  t  t2
-E 
ec   6Ke
Ke    6    (t  t2 ), t2  t  t210
Actual commutation position
Accurate commutation position 
La where Ke is the efficiency of the back-EMF, and ω is the
angular speed of the motor.
By substituting (5) into (4), the line voltage difference
t210
Lb integral  t150
 uca  uab dt is shown as:
t210 t210

Lc  t150
 uca  uab dt  t 150
(eb  ec  2ea )dt

t1  6 K e  t210

     
  K e    6      t1  t   dt  t1 K e dt
t150
 
(6)
t2  6 K e
t210 
Fig. 2. Phase diagram of back-EMF and commutation signals.    K e  dt  t
  K e    6     (t  t2 )  dt
t150 2
 
6 K e  e    
t210   4 K 3
assumed that the commutation error φ[-30°,30°]. In addition, 2       t  t180   dt 
t150    6  p   6  
t1, t2, t3, and t4 are the boundary points of the flat-top  
back-EMF. where p is the number of pole pairs.
By rearranging (6), the commutation error φ under a
A. Without Consideration of the Freewheeling Process delayed commutation can be expressed as:
1) Delayed Commutation: At a particular step, assume that t210
  uca  uab dt
VT3 and VT2 are conducting, and that VT1 is floating. When 
t150
  0 (7)
the commutation instants are delayed by α, the conduction of Ce
VT3 and VT2 lasts a period when t  t150  , t 210  , as where Ce  4Ke  3    p   6  .
shown in Fig. 2. During t  t150 , t210  , the line voltage 2) Advanced Commutation: When commutation instants
difference integral during a 60-degree conduction period can are advanced by α, the conduction of VT3 and VT2 lasts a
be expressed as: period when t  t150 , t 210  , as shown in Fig. 2. The line
t210 t210 t210 voltage difference integral during the 60-degree conduction
 t150
 uca  uab dt  t 150
Az1 dt  
t150
Ae1 dt (3)
period can be expressed as:

Az1  R (ib  ic  2ia )  Ld  ib  ic  2ia  dt

t210 t210

where: . 
t150
 uca  uab dt  t 150
Ae2 dt (8)
Ae1  eb  ec  2 ea
where Ae2  eb  ec  2ea .
Considering a BLDC motor with a negligible freewheeling
Similarly, the back-EMFs during t  t150 , t 210  can be
period tfw, the current satisfies ib= -ic and ia=0 during the
expressed as:
entire 60-electrical degree period when t  t150 , t210  .
6Ke
Therefore, it meets Az1=0, and the line voltage difference ea =      t  t180  , t150  t  t210
t210
 +6
integral   uca  uab dt is simplified as:  6Ke
t150
 K e      t1  t  , t150  t  t1 (9)
eb    +6
t210 t210  K ,
t150
 uca  uab dt  t 150
Ae1 dt (4)  e t1  t  t210
  K e , t150  t  t2
According to the back-EMFs shown in Fig. 2, non-ideal 
ec   6Ke
back-EMFs during t  t150 , t210  can be expressed as:   Ke   +6    (t  t2 ), t2  t  t210

1206 Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 19, No. 5, September 2019

By substituting (9) into (8), the line voltage difference TABLE I

t210 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMUTATION ERRORS AND
integral t
150
 uca  uab dt is shown as: COMMUTATION INFORMATION
Conduction Commutation Sign Advanced
t210 t210
  uca  uab dt  t (eb  ec  2ea )dt Switch Error φ (φ) /Delayed

  u C
t150 150
te ＞0 Delayed
 u ca dt
t1  6K e  t210 VT1-VT6 bc e
=     t1  t   dt +  ＜0 Advanced
ts
K e  K e dt
t150   +6
 
  u dt  C
t1 te ＜0 Delayed
(10)  u bc
VT1-VT2 ab e
Advanced
t210  6K e  ＞0
ts
t2
+   K e  dt +   K      (t  t ) dt
  u dt  C
 e  +6
2  te ＞0 Delayed
t150 t2
  VT3-VT2 ca  uab e
ts
＜0 Advanced
 6K e  4 K e  3 + 
  u dt  C
t210
2     +6     t  t180   dt = ＜0 Delayed
te
 u ca
t150
  p  +6  VT3-VT4 ts bc e
＞0 Advanced

  u dt  C
te ＞0 Delayed
By rearranging (10), the commutation error φ under VT5-VT4 ab  u bc e
ts
＜0 Advanced
advanced commutation can be expressed as:
  u dt  C
te ＜0 Delayed
 uab
t210 VT5-VT6 ca e

 uca  uab dt ＞0 Advanced

ts


 t150
   0 (11)
Ce
From (12) and (13), the commutation error φ can be
where α denotes the absolute value of the commutation error directly obtained and it features different polarities under
φ between the actual commutation position and the accurate advanced and delayed commutations. Hence, the sign of the
commutation position. commutation error φ can be used as an indicator of an
Therefore, the commutation error φ during the conduction advanced or delayed commutation.
period of VT3 and VT2 can be shown as: The relationships among the conduction switch,
commutation error and commutation information (delayed or
 t210 +  u  u dt
 t150 + ca ab advanced commutation) are shown in Table I.
 =  0
Ce B. With Consideration of the Freewheeling Process

 Delayed commutation  , 1) Delayed Commutation: Likewise, the conduction period
  t (12)
of VT3 and VT2 is taken as an example. The commutation
   uca  uab dt
210

 t150
=   0 instants are delayed by α, and the phase current is shown Fig.
 Ce 3(a). The line voltage difference integral during the 60-degree

  Advanced commutation  conduction period can be expressed as:
t210 t210 t210
During a second 60-degree conduction period of VT3, VT3 
t150
 uca  uab dt  t 150
Az1 dt  
t150
Ae1 dt (15)
and VT4 are conducting. The commutation error φ under
When the freewheeling process of the phase inductance is
delayed and advanced commutations can be expressed as:
considered, the impact of Az1 cannot be ignored.
 t 270
 ubc  uca dt In a 60-degree conduction period, two periods are included
 t210
   0 according to the winding conduction state: the freewheeling
 Ce
 period and the normal conduction period. In the freewheeling
  Delayed commutation  , period, when t  t150 , t150  tfw  , the outgoing current ia
 t 270
(13)
   ubc  uca dt gradually vanishes, the active current ib begins to rise, and the
 t210
=  0 un-commutated current ic continues conducting, where tfw
 Ce
 represents the free-wheeling period of the outgoing phase
  Advanced commutation  current.
During the freewheeling period, the three-phase current is
According to the previous analysis, the general function of
simultaneously conducting, and the phase current equation
the commutation error φ is given as:
meets ia+ib+ic=0. In the normal conduction period, when
=   ute

ts xz 
 uzy dt C e (14) t  t150  tfw , t210  , the phase currents ib and ic conduct
and the outgoing phase current ia remains zero. The phase
where the subscripts x and y represent the active phases, and current equations meet ia=0, ib+ic=0. The integral item
z represents the inactive phase. ts and te represent the lower t210  +

limit and upper limits of the integration, respectively. t150  +

Az1dt for the voltage-drop sum of the inductance and
 Fast Regulation Method for Commutation Shifts for … 1207

Ia 2) Advanced Commutation: Fig. 3(b) shows the phase

ia ib current under advanced commutation. The line voltage
I
difference integral during the a 60-degree conduction period
can be expressed as:
t210 t210 t210
 t150
 uca  uab dt  t 150
Az2 dt  
t150
Ae2 dt (19)
t150  t210  t
When t  t150 , t 210  , the phase current equations
tfw
during the normal conduction period and the freewheeling
ic period are the same as those under delayed commutation.
-I According to the same analysis mentioned under delayed
t210

(a)
commutation, the integral item t150
Az2 dt for the voltage-
drop sum of the inductance and resistance can be expressed as:
ia Ia ib t210
I t150
Az2 dt
t150 +tfw
  R (ib  ic  2ia )  Ld  ib  ic  2ia  dt dt
t150 (20)
t210
  R (ib  ic  2ia )  Ld  ib  ic  2ia  dt dt
t150 +tfw
t150  t210  t  3 LI a
tfw By combining (10), (19) and (20), the commutation error φ
can be solved as:
ic
I t210
 t150
 uca  uab dt  3LIa
(b)     0 (21)
Ce
Fig. 3. Phase current when VT3 and VT2 are conducting. (a) Delayed
commutation. (b) Advanced commutation. Therefore, the commutation error φ during the conduction
period of VT3 and VT2 can be shown as:
resistance can be expressed as:
 t210 +  u  u dt  3 LI
 t150 + ca ab a
t210
=  0
t150
Az 1 dt 

Ce
t150 +tfw   Delayed commutation  ,
  R (ib  ic  2ia )  Ld  ib  ic  2ia  dt dt  t (22)
t150
(16)    uca  uab dt  3 LI a
210
t210
+  R (ib  ic  2ia )  Ld  ib  ic  2ia  dt dt  t150 =   0
t150 +tfw   Ce

 Ria  Ldia dt dt  Advanced commutation 
t150 +tfw
=  3
t150
During the second 60-degree conduction period of VT3,
t150 +tfw
Given that R t150
ia dt is far less than LIa, the effect of VT3 and VT4 are conducting. The commutation error φ under
delayed and advanced commutations can be expressed as:
the phase resistance is negligible, and (16) can be simplified
 t 270  u  u dt  3LI
 t210 bc ca
as: c

    0
 3 Ldia dt dt  3 LI a
t210 t150 +tfw
Ce
 Az 1 dt   (17) 
  Delayed commutation  ,
t150 t150

where Ia is the final value of the outgoing phase current  t (23)
   ubc  uca dt  3LI c
270

before commutation.  t210 =  0

By combining (6), (15) and (17), the commutation error   Ce

under delayed commutation is solved as:   Advanced commutation 
t210
 t150
 uca  uab dt  3 LIa When the freewheeling process of the phase inductance is
   0 (18) considered, the general function of the commutation error φ is
Ce updated as:
1208 Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 19, No. 5, September 2019

TABLE II
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMUTATION ERRORS AND COMMUTATION INFORMATION
Conduction Switch Commutation Error φ Sign (φ) Advanced/Delayed

VT1-VT6   u
te

ts
bc  u ca dt  3 LI c C e
＞0
＜0
Delayed
Advanced

  u dt  3 LI  C
te ＜0 Delayed
 u bc
VT1-VT2 ts
ab b e
＞0 Advanced

  u dt  3 LI  C
te ＞0 Delayed
 uab
VT3-VT2 ts
ca a e
＜0 Advanced

  u dt  3 LI  C
te ＜0 Delayed
 u ca
VT3-VT4 ts
bc c e
＞0 Advanced

  u dt  3 LI  C
te ＞0 Delayed
 u bc
VT5-VT4 ts
ab b e
＜0 Advanced

  u dt  3 LI  C
te ＜0 Delayed
 uab
VT5-VT6 ts
ca a e
＞0 Advanced

TABLE III
PREDEFINED COMMUTATION SEQUENCES
  
Ha H b H c 001 101 100 110 010 011
Direction Clockwise
Conduction Switch VT3-VT2 VT3-VT4 VT5-VT4 VT5-VT6 VT1-VT6 VT1-VT2
Direction Anti-Clockwise
Conduction Switch VT5-VT6 VT1-VT6 VT1-VT2 VT3-VT2 VT3-VT4 VT5-VT4

The relationships among the conduction switch, commutation

error and commutation information (delayed or advanced
commutation) are shown in Table II.

C. Phase Deviation β
In this paper, the actual back-EMF waveforms are measured
offline by a constant speed test of a BLDC motor and the
phase deviation β can be obtained from the measured back-
EMF. Fig. 4 shows the assembly of the BLDC motor used in
this study. Fig. 5 shows the corresponding back-EMF waveforms
of a constant speed test of 1200r/min.
Fig. 4. Structure of the employed BLDC motor.
D. Implementation of the Proposed Method
In general, accurate commutation instants are obtained by
30 electrical degrees delayed shift of ZCPs in the sensorless
drive technique and reactivating the motor windings in
accordance with a predefined commutation sequence. The
predefined commutation sequences are shown in Table III,
  
where Ha , Hb and Hc are the virtual hall signals.
When the motor rotates anti-clockwise, the commutation
error ϕ can be rewritten as:
    

 =  1
Ha + H b + H c 
    180  (25)
Table II shows that when the phase current flows in a
different direction, the sign of the commutation error φ
Fig. 5. Measured back-EMF of a BLDC motor at 1200r/min. obtained with the same function is opposite. After
transformation using (25), the commutation error ϕ under
=   u
te

ts xz 
 uzy dt  3 LI z Ce (24)
delayed and advanced commutations is converted to positive
and negative, respectively.
 Fast Regulation Method for Commutation Shifts for … 1209

Fig. 6. Sensorless BLDC drive system with the proposed method.

Start where k (k＞0) is the number of iterations and θ (0)=30°.

Fig. 6 shows a block diagram of a sensorless BLDC motor
Detect virtual hall signals drive system with the proposed method. The system contains
  
Ha ，Hb ， Hc a speed-loop controller, a current-loop controller, and the
proposed commutation shift regulation method. In the
Commutation proposed commutation shift regulation method, when
begins? commutation signals are detected, the final value of the
Y N outgoing phase current is sampled and the line voltage
Sample and record the outgoing Sample the line difference selected according to Table II is integrated. When
phase current I z  k  voltage uab , ubc , uca commutation occurs again, the line voltage difference integral
is recorded and the commutation error ϕ is calculated with
Abstract the integral Calculate the line voltage
te  k  the sampled current value and the line voltage difference
  uxz  uzy  dt
ts  k 
difference integral
integral. Meanwhile, the entire regulation process mentioned

 C
te  k  above is resumed. A flowchart of the proposed method is
 k  =
ts  k 
u xz  uzy  dt  3LI z  k  1 e
shown in Fig. 7.
   

  k  =  1    k  180 
Ha  H b  Hc 

IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

  k  =  k  1    k  The experimental prototype is set up to verify correctness

and effectiveness of the proposed method. The experimental
End
platform, which consists of the control system and an
experimental motor is shown in Fig. 8. The motor is connected
Fig. 7. Flowchart of the proposed regulation method. to a generator by a flexible coupling. The rated parameters of
BLDC motor under study are shown in Table IV.
Similarly, when the motor rotates clockwise, the commutation In the experiment, a BLDC motor is coupled to a dc
error ϕ can be shown as: generator. The core processor is a digital signal processor
     TMS320F28335 with a 150MHz clock frequency, and the
 =  1
Ha + H b + Hc +1 
    180  (26) three phase inverter is an intelligent power module
Therefore, after the commutation error ϕ is detected, the PM50RL1A060 (Mitsubishi). The line voltage and phase
commutation shift is updated as: current are sampled by a voltage sensor (LV25-P) and a current
sensor (LTS15-NP), respectively. The modulation method of
  k  =  k  1     k  (27) three-phase inverter is PWM-ON, and the switching frequency
1210 Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 19, No. 5, September 2019

(a)

Fig. 8. Experimental setup of a BLDC motor drive system.

TABLE IV
MOTOR PARAMETERS
Motor Parameter Values
Rated voltage 200V
Rated power 2.5 kW
Rated speed 1200 r/min (b)
Rated torque 20 Nm
Pole pairs 4
Phase inductance 1.234 mH
Phase resistance 0.0654Ω
Back-EMF coefficient 0.528V/(rad/s)

of the three-phase inverter and the sampling frequency of the

voltage are 10kHz and 200kHz, respectively. The experimental
results are monitored and recorded by a digital oscilloscope
DL750, and the integral of the line voltage difference is
observed through a DAC.
(c)
Fig. 9 show the phase current and line voltage difference
Fig. 9. Phase Current and integral of the line voltage difference.
 u 
te
integral xz  uzy dt under the delayed, advanced and (a) Delayed commutation. (b) Advanced commutation. (c) Accurate
ts
commutation.
accurate commutation, respectively. In the experiment, the
motor operates at a speed of 600r/min and a torque load of commutation. Experimental results show that the relationship
5.2 Nm. In addition, the commutation instants are set to be between the voltage integral and the phase current before
advanced or delayed by 10°. For analysis, the conduction period commutation can reflect commutation information.
of VT3 and VT2 is taken as an example. The outgoing phase Fig. 10 and Fig. 11 show phase current waveforms before and
current Ia before commutation and the line voltage difference after regulation at speeds of 600 r/min and 1200r/min,
te
integral  u
ts ca  uab dt are marked in circles. As seen in respectively, where the hall signal Lh, the equivalent
commutation signal Lt (the equivalent commutation signal is
te
Fig. 9, the line voltage difference integral
 u
ts ca  uab dt is synthesized from three virtual hall signals and its frequency is
  

different under delayed, advanced and accurate commutation.
The absolute value of the integral under delayed and
advanced commutation is higher than that under accurate
commutation. Inaccurate commutation signals produce
differences in the line voltage difference integral
tripled, where Lt = Ha + H b + Hc ), and the sensorless
commutation signal Ls are displayed. In Fig. 10 and Fig. 11,
the commutation instants are advanced and delayed by
approximately 10° before the proposed regulation method is
employed, and the phase current ib under advanced and

 u 
te delayed commutations fluctuates upwards due to the
 uzy dt and the outgoing phase current Iz before
ts xz
commutation error. After completing the regulation, the current
 Fast Regulation Method for Commutation Shifts for … 1211

(a) (b)
Fig. 10. Phase current waveforms before and after regulation. (a) Advanced commutation at a speed of 600r/min and a load torque of 2.5
Nm. (b) Delayed commutation at a speed of 600r/min and a load torque of 2.5 Nm.

(a) (b)
Fig. 11. Phase current waveforms before and after regulation. (a) Advanced commutation at a speed of 1200r/min and a load torque
of 7 Nm. (b) Delayed commutation at a speed of 1200r/min and a load torque of 7 Nm.

ripple is effectively decreased. The adjustment accuracy of the
proposed method is tested and the obtained results are shown
in the enlarged view. As seen in the enlarged views, the
errors are about 5% when compared with the equivalent
commutation signal Lt. Therefore, the proposed method can
regulate commutation instants accurately in steady speed
operation.
The torque ripple is defined as follows:
TP-P
Kr =
Tavg
where TP-P is the peak-peak value of the torque, and Tavg is the
average value of the torque.
Fig. 12 and Fig. 13 show speed and torque waveforms
under different conditions. As can be seen in these figures,
the speed ripple is not obvious under these two operating
conditions. When the motor runs at a speed of 600r/min and a
and a load torque of 11Mn, the torque ripples Kr are 26.1%,
9.5% and 8.9% under advanced, accurate and delayed
commutations, respectively. It is found that the torque ripple
under accurate commutation is lower than that under
advanced commutation, but higher than that under delayed
commutation. When delayed commutation occurs, the current
ripple of un-commutated phase current is reduced, which
results in a lower torque ripple than that under accurate
commutation. Specific reasons for this are provided in [26].
To test the convergence rate of the proposed method in
steady speed operation, the phase difference between the
sensored signals and the sensorless commutation signals is set
to about 10°, and the motor operates at a speed of 800r/min
and a load torque of 3.5 Nm. Fig. 14 shows the phase current,
the line voltage difference integral and their enlarged views
with the proposed method. Before the point of s1, the phase
current ib curls up, and the integral t  uxz  uzy dt is high.
te

load torque of 7 Nm, the torque ripples Kr are 17.1%, 15.3% s

and 13.8% under advanced, accurate and delayed commutations, When the regulation method is activated at the point of s1,
respectively. When the motor runs at a speed of 1200r/min the phase current pulsation decays rapidly, the integral
1212 Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 19, No. 5, September 2019
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 12. Speed and torque waveforms under different conditions.
(a) Advanced commutation at a speed of 600r/min and a load
torque of 7 Nm. (b) Delayed commutation at a speed of 600r/min
and a load torque of 7 Nm. (c) Accurate commutation at a speed
of 600r/min and a load torque of 7 Nm.
 u 
te
 uzy dt becomes lower, and the commutation error
ts xz
converges to zero within 4.68ms. In addition, the convergence
rate of the proposed method at different speeds is tested and
shown in Table V. The obtained test results show that the
proposed method converges rapidly in a wide speed range.
Subsequently, the performance of the proposed method
during the transient process is tested. In the experiment, the
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 13. Speed and torque waveforms under different conditions.
(a) Advanced commutation at a speed of 1200r/min and a load
torque of 11 Nm. (b) Delayed commutation at a speed of 1200
r/min and a load torque of 11 Nm. (c) Accurate commutation at a
speed of 1200r/min and a load torque of 11 Nm.
commutation instants are delayed by approximately 12°, and
the motor is accelerated from 300 r/min to 1200r/min with a
load torque of 8Nm. Fig. 15 shows the motor speed, phase
current, the integral of the line voltage difference and their
enlarged views with the proposed method. When the motor
speed ramps up, the regulation method is initiated at the
points of s1 and s2, and is terminated at the points of t1 and t2.
As shown in Fig. 15, after the regulation method is activated,
 Fast Regulation Method for Commutation Shifts for … 1213

Fig. 14. Comparative results of the phase current, the integral

and their enlarged views at a speed of 800r/min and a load torque Fig. 17. Comparison of the RMS values of phase current between
of 3.5 Nm with the proposed method. a system with and without the proposed method.

TABLE V
CONVERGENCE RATE OF THE PROPOSED METHOD the current fluctuation is effectively decreased, and the phase
current appears symmetrical and flat. The proposed regulation
Speed (r/min) 300 500 800 1000 1200
method exhibits satisfactory dynamic performance in the
Proposed
12.5 7.5 4.68 3.75 3.13 variable speed operation.
method(ms)
Moreover, the power consumption and the RMS value of
the phase current are reduced after the commutation instants
are regulated with the proposed method. The power
consumption is tested by calculating it as the product of the
dc-bus voltage and the dc bus current. Fig. 16 and Fig. 17
show the power consumption and the RMS value of the phase
current of a BLDC motor with and without regulation after
steady operation for 40 min, respectively. In addition, the
speed range is from 400r/min-1200r/min under different
loads. The dotted and solid lines represent the results before
and after regulation, respectively. The experimental results in
Fig. 16 and Fig. 17 indicate that the proposed method can
effectively reduce the power consumption and RMS value of
phase current over a wide speed range, especially in the high-
Fig. 15. Transient performance and enlarged views with the speed range.
proposed method when the motor accelerates from 300r/min to
1200r/min.
V. CONCLUSIONS
This paper proposes a fast regulation method for the
commutation shift of sensorless BLDC motor drive systems.
The commutation error is directly calculated with the line
voltage difference integral of 60 electrical degrees and the
outgoing phase current before commutation. In addition, it is
used to regulate commutation shift, which results in a faster
convergence rate of the commutation error. The impact of
phase inductance freewheeling is considered during the
solution of the commutation error, and the detection precision
of the commutation error is improved accordingly. The
commutation error features positive and negative polarity,
and the commutation information can be judged immediately.
Finally, the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed
Fig. 16. Motor power consumption comparison between a system regulation method are verified through experiments. The
with and without the proposed method. experimental results show that the proposed method can
1214 Journal of Power Electronics, Vol. 19, No. 5, September 2019
accurately regulate commutation instants and effectively
reduce energy loss.
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Xuliang Yao received his Ph.D. degree from
the College of Automation, Harbin Engineering
University, Harbin, China, in 2005. He is
presently working as a Professor in the
College of Automation, Harbin Engineering
University. His current research interests
include power electronics and power drives,
ship electric propulsion, and control theory
of shipping motion.
 Fast Regulation Method for Commutation Shifts for …
Jicheng Zhao received his B.S. and M.S.
degrees from the College of Automation,
Harbin Engineering University, Harbin,
China, in 2008 and 2011, respectively. He is
presently working towards his Ph.D. degree
in the College of Automation, Harbin
Engineering University. His current research
interests include sensorless drives and
commutation ripple suppression of BLDC motors.
1215
Jingfang Wang was born in Hebei, China,
in 1984. He received his B.S. degree in
Automation from Yanshan University,
Qinhuangdao, China, in 2008; his M.S.
degree in Electrical Engineering from the
Harbin Engineering University, Harbin,
China, in 2012; and his Ph.D. degree in
Electrical Engineering from the Harbin
Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, in 2017. Since 2017, he
has been working as a Lecturer in the College of Automation,
Harbin Engineering University. His current research interests
include high power converters and harmonics compensation.